The Help
by E J ect
Summary: The laughing dead have struck. When it seems to some of the gods that the Varden have no more hope, Leo is the only one the gods have determined as having too much much free time.


A slight teenager walked through monster infested woods, off on his way toward a secret bunker in the middle of the forest. From atop a tree, a pair of blue eyes watched him, the rest of a face hidden except for the wide smile stretched across gleaming piano teeth. He watched as the Hispanic boy picked his way through the remains of the many trees that had been torn up in the last war maneuver. Thankfully, there were no pretty nymphs in those, but it was still a waste of nature. He was sure the Demeter children were planning to clean this up.

But he had no time for that, seeing as he had a boy to send to another dimension here, and it took a lot of finesse. He slowly snaked one hand around an inconvenient branch that was poking him in the side, and then pointed at the ground just as the slight boy stepped forward. As he disappeared, his short scream echoing all around the wood, Hermes' grin only widened. _Objective accepted, mission complete_, he thought.

* * *

I was only minding my own business of going to stick my nose into someone else's business when it happened! I was sure that there had been solid ground there, like, two seconds ago. In fact, I was positive that there was! I'm not so stupid as to step off a cliff or into a magic sinkhole: that's more in Percy's territory!

* * *

Dropping, falling, tripping, descending, collapsing, sliding, and sinking does not do justice to what happened to Leo. There was no force pulling him down, to cause him to fall, because there was no gravity. He did not drop out of light; the light dropped. The grounded ascended, of course, because he couldn't descend, especially not accidently. Leo couldn't have done anything.

It was like when he was possessed by Gaea, but reversed. When Leo was blasting the Romans, he could see and hear, feel and taste the smoke in the air, but couldn't control himself. Now, he could move freely, but there was nothing all around him. He could see, but there was nothing to see, as if he were blindfolded. He was screaming, he felt himself scream, he _had _to be screaming, but he couldn't hear. He tried to take a breath, but it was as if he was compressed, and the air wasn't there, as if he were swimming, but there wasn't any water, either. Leo floundered and twisted trying to right himself, but up was sideways, and sideways was down.

When he fell, the drain on his powers began. He should have alighted, became a fireball, but there was nothing to burn. It was a vacuum, and he shouldn't have survived, he shouldn't have been alive, but he was there anyway. He was an impossibility. There was no other way of putting it.

Then his back _slammed _into the ground, knocking all the air that wasn't there out of his lungs.

* * *

Galbatorix was irritated. The Eldunari had sensed a strange presence that had magically resurfaced precisely halfway between the rebel's base and the capital, Dras Leona. This presence, they said, burned like the sun itself, and its thoughts were a mess of nonsense and fire. Now what was he to do? There were so many ways to go with this, but because the presence's appearance was such an anomaly, there was no telling what it could've been. It could've been an asset to him or the rebels. There was even a possibility that it was only one of the many strange self-sustained magical anomalies of Alegaësia. He couldn't take chances, though.

"Summon Jeremy," he told a servant. She scurried away quickly, for her lord was in a foul mood. Not five minutes later, she was briskly walking back, with a teen of about sixteen following. "I'll leave you, m'lord." The door closed.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" the teen said, kneeling. "What do you require of me?" Jeremy was dressed in a manner unlike most Alegaësians, with his thin cotton tunic, which really could be called a turtleneck, and his breeches, which were made of a blue fabric derived from cotton, but was much more durable and some said felt like rough burlap.

"Track this down immediately. Retrieve it. Remember, I want it in perfect condition.

"Of course, my king."

"Whatever it is, you'd do best not to take chances. And let it be known that if it escapes you, I will eat your stomach tonight as dinner," Galbatorix said, completely straight faced, and a mad glint in his eye.

* * *

**LEO! One of the most underappreciated characters in the series. He is here, and me and my friend E J ect are going to have sooooo much fun with this! This is a combined writing with me, totallyawesome1398, so if you're interested in other x-overs check out my profile. E J's betaed one for me, so that's always fun. Now I'm going to let her have a few words to her adoring fans ;), while I go hole up in my bedroom and watch the review count ;p. Remember to REVIEW, and totallyawesome out!**

**Now that I've finished editing Ta's author's note, I can finally introduce myself. I'm E J ect, but call me E J. Don't you love how wonderfully... outdated the speech of the Alegaësians is, so unlike many other stories in this fandom? That's what helped inspire this crossover collaboration. I'm Beta and co-author to my wonderful friend, Ta. I fear I'm the more serious one, and that's Ta's the life of our nonexistent party. We're writing each chapter together to maintain consistency instead of making one of those collaborations where people alternate chapters and write each other into plot holes. I wish I could remember what else I was going to say (or should I say type). Review, favorite, and TAKE CARE OF YOUR ANGER ISSUES! (Like I did.)**


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